Iraqi Peshmerga forces enter town of Bashiqa near Mosul

Iraqi Kurdish fighters have entered the center of the Daesh-held town of Bashiqa, which is located east of the city of Mosul, from four axes.

Ghiath el-Srouji, a security official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said the Peshmerga fighters entered the center of Bashiqa on Monday morning.

He told Iraq’s al-Sumaria news website that the Peshmerga forces are currently engaged in clashes with the Daesh terrorists in the town, saying a number of terrorists have been killed so far.

Srouji said Bashiqa will be liberated from the Takfiri terrorists in the coming hours.

Earlier on Monday, a source with the Peshmerga said the fighters had launched an operation to retake the town, which had been surrounded by the Kurdish forces for days.

Kurdish forces had launched heavy artillery and mortar attacks against the terrorists in the town on Sunday, before starting to advance into the town. More artillery and aerial strikes hit the town early Monday.

The operation comes as part of a larger-scale offensive to retake Mosul, which Daesh has declared as its so-called headquarters in Iraq.

An Iraqi sniper aims his weapon as fellow government forces advance toward the town of Hammam al-Alil south of Mosul, November 6, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

On October 17, Iraqi army soldiers, backed by volunteer fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched an operation to retake Mosul, a strategic city in northern Iraq, from Daesh terrorists.

The Iraqi troops managed to enter Mosul’s limits last week for the first time since June 2014, when the city fell to Daesh amid its terrorist campaign in northern and western Iraq.

So far, a large number of the villages and districts surrounding the city have been purged of the terrorists.

Earlier, on Sunday, the Iraqi forces completely retook control of the town of Hammam al-Alil, to the south of Mosul.

Also on Sunday, Najim Abdullah al-Jubouri, the commander of Nineveh operations, said a senior Daesh commander had been killed in the operation to liberate Hammam al-Alil.

According to Jubouri, at least 2,000 Daesh terrorists, including senior commanders, have been killed since the beginning of the operation to retake Mosul.